r own way."

Thereupon, without telling anything that he had no right to tell, Eph
managed none the less to give his hearers an entertaining account of
the "Benson's" long trip down the coast without stop or help.

"And, unless I'm in a big error, gentlemen, ours is the longest trip
that a submarine boat ever took by itself."

"You're right there, too," nodded one of the newspaper men, who made a
study of naval affairs and records. "And the way this craft came in
this afternoon beat anything, so far as I'm aware, that was ever done
with a submarine."

"That's Captain Jack Benson's specialty," replied Eph Somers, his eyes
twinkling.

"What's his specialty!"

"Doing things with a submarine boat that have never been done before.
Captain Benson is the latest wonder in the submarine line."

"He has a very steady admirer in you, hasn't he?" inquired one of the
newspaper men, laughingly..

"Yes; and the same is true of anyone else who knows him well," declared
Eph, warmly. "Jack Benson is about the best fellow on earth--and one
of the smartest, too, his comrades think."

Thereupon one of the newspaper correspondents began tactfully to draw
out young Somers about the history and past performances of the young
submarine captain. On this subject Somers talked as freely as they
could want.

"It was Benson, too, who discovered the trick of leaving a submarine
boat on the bottom, and coming to the top by himself, wasn't it?"
slyly asked one of the visitors.

"That was his discovery," nodded Eph, promptly.

"What's the principle of the trick?"

Eph's jaws snapped with a slight noise. He remained silent, for a few
moments, before he replied:

"So far, that trick is known only to the Pollard people and a few
officers of the Navy. The fewer that know, the better the chance of
keeping it a secret. Don't you believe me?"

"That's one way of looking at it, perhaps," nodded a reporter. "But
there's another side to that, too, Somers. The United States now own
some of your boats, and the money of the people paid for those boats.
Now, don't you think the people of this country have a right to know
some of the secrets for which they pay good money, and a lot of it?"

On hearing the question put that way Eph looked tremendously thoughtful
for a few seconds.

"Why, yes, undoubtedly," admitted the carroty-topped submarine boy.
"I never thought of it that way before."

"Then--"

"See here," interrupted Eph, "it was